The group now walked beyond the area that was supposed to be their limit. It took them almost the entire morning and afternoon to get there due to the continuous battles and rest stops.
Although it had already been a month since they had started hunting in the forest, they still couldn't feel the number of magical beasts beyond the area controlled by the camp decrease.
Since it was already nighttime, they decided to camp.
Their stops were already meticulously planned by Levi. A cave was already a necessity for the team's survival, so he carefully picked the spots where there was potentially a cave and marked them as their stopovers. Thankfully, their first stop really did have one.
The group took their well-deserved rest.
….
The next day, the group set out at dawn again.
Levi's prediction regarding the increased difficulty as they went deeper into the forest was actually slightly off.
His predictions took into account the sizes of the beasts around the area and the number of beasts encountered per kilometer. As for the sizes, he was correct. There were no small-sized creatures anymore. For the number of beasts per kilometer, however, it was slightly higher than expected. The group merely traveled eight kilometers, but they have already encountered about 50 beasts, an average of 6.25 beasts per kilometer when they were only expecting 4 or 5 per kilometer. A distance of one kilometer wasn't actually that far so one or two more beasts might make a bit of a difference if they all ganged up in them.
The members of the group did improve during the past month. They also adjusted with the environment. Fighting large beasts somehow became the norm for them, even Aeon. They only had problems with colossal ones. Fortunately, they only encountered two so far, and they were able to deal with them easily. Other magical beasts tend to get out of the way of those colossal ones, so they did not have any support. The battles against them were dangerous and long, but it was manageable. One hundred percent of the time, Aeon became the distraction, and he was actually perfect for the job with his abnormal speed.
In no time, the group arrived at their destination, the first of the 14 caves where a Spirit Fox Gem had been found before.
The fourteen caves marked by Dan were quite different from those they usually camped at. Except for being big and wide, it was underground, and it also had several forks and intersections inside.
Based on research, it was a home for some fox-like creatures before. That was also the reason why the gemstones found in the area were called Spirit Fox gem. The most eye-catching feature of the gem was that it had some sort of smoke trapped inside, and it was believed to be a part of the spirit of the fox that used to live inside the cave.
The group did not split from each other. This had already become a common practice. Even if it helped in increasing their effective search range, they did not want to risk being at a disadvantage when facing magical beasts. One by one, they surveyed the twists and turns inside the cave but found nothing. They weren't sad about this, though. They did not expect to be so lucky.
The group immediately headed to the second cave. It was relatively close, so unless they wasted any more time, they would still be able to search it before night falls.
The beasts along the way were easily dispatched, and the group had no trouble reaching the cave after two hours of traveling.
When they entered, however, they saw something completely unexpected.
To be exact, they saw another team.
Aeon's group was filled with surprise. However, after a moment the surprise turned into concern and worry.
The members of the team they saw were heavily injured. Three of them were even unconscious.
Aeon rushed towards the other team waking the others from their daze. The other members of their group also followed Aeon.
When they saw Aeon, the three members of the other team who were still conscious were overjoyed. They tried to get up but immediately failed.
As Suri got closer, he recognized one of the conscious members.
Mark.
Instead of feeling relief, Suri felt bewildered.
Because Mark was part of the Strongest Team.
The Strongest Team had seven members.
Now, however, there were only six people inside the cave.
So where was the other one?
Suri subconsciously hoped that the 7th member was simply looking for some food to eat as he rushed towards Mark.
Aeon was already next to the unconscious people and was checking on their wounds when Suri arrived in front of Mark. The latter simply gave him a crooked smile. It was obvious from his appearance that he was really tired.
"What happened to your team?" Suri asked Mark. Worry filled his voice that it slightly quaked.
Mark's smile faded. He paused for a moment before he replied, "We bit more than we could chew."
The regret in Mark's voice was apparent. Suri could already imagine the risk that they took for the items. He then asked, "what about your other member?"
At that point, Suri's heartbeat was already racing. None of the students were supposed to die during the training, so he was hoping that that was the case.
Suri felt dread when Mark bit his lip, refusing to respond. He felt dizzy and he fell on his butt.
Would they suffer the same fate when they try to fill their greed?
Aeon saw and heard the whole thing. After determining that none of the unconscious ones suffered a fatal wound or injury, he went over to Mark. "Can you please tell us the whole thing?"
By that time, everyone was already huddled in front of Mark. Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, he crumbled from the pressure. He looked at his two teammates who were still conscious and they both nodded. Slowly, he narrated their experience.
….
The previous day, at dusk.
Mark and his six other teammates had their eyes on the Spirit Fox Gem. They had already been searching for it for three days now.
When Mark was patrolling the area around the cave they were about to search, he realized that, somehow, the path towards the area where the Ur Trees grow was devoid of magical beasts. There were absolutely no monsters.
It was too silent that it could be described as eerie.
Suddenly, they thought about something.
Instead of searching for the Spirit Fox Gem, they did not enter the cave they were supposed to search and moved at full speed towards the Ur Trees. After two hours of continuous running, they finally arrived on site. Thankfully, the area was also deserted.
However, they had one problem.
The trees did not release their sap.
The group decided to wait until the trees would excrete some by itself, so they could take it afterward, but after half a day, it did not even let out the slightest bit of sap.
Impatient, their group decided to wound the tree and farm the essence forcibly. Unfortunately, this is not how it was supposed to be done. Unless the tree excretes its sap, it would not have any of its essence. The list in the camp lacked this detail and the members of the group only realized it after the deed had been done.
From the wound of an Ur Tree, its sap flowed freely. Of course, it did not have any of its essence. That was when the trouble started.
After half a day, the magical beasts that mysteriously disappeared earlier started swarming into the area. They realized this a bit late and their exit path had already been cut off. Their group was forced to back deeper into unknown territory. Eventually, they were pushed into a narrow area surrounded by high walls.
Because their hiding spot was also filled with Ur Trees, instead of escaping, they thought that they could just wait for another tree to excrete some of its sap as they hid. The area was still empty, so no one disagreed.
When Mark was supposed to pee, he stumbled upon an unnoticeable recess in the corner of the area. Inside the small recess, a patch of thick grass was peeking out.
Mark's curiosity got the best of him and looked deeper into the recess. His eyes froze from the sight and his thoughts about peeing had completely been replaced by panic.
On top of it were seven wolf cubs with three eyes. Two eyes were in their normal positions. The third one was in the center of their foreheads.
The area where they were supposed to be hiding was a den of wolf-type magical beasts. And, anytime, the real masters of that place might return.
Slowly, Mark backed away. If the wolf cubs made the slightest noise, and their parents would come home immediately, they would not be able to escape. The area was a dead end!
Mark's heart pounded in his chest as he took each step. He thanked the heavens that he did not piss carelessly. If he did, maybe only Hecate herself could save them.
Eventually, Mark reached a safe zone. He sighed with relief as he started walking normally. He had slight problems walking because his legs turned to jelly from the tension, but there were more important things to worry about. He should warn everyone to leave as silently as possible.
Mark was preparing to jog when he suddenly saw something drip from a nearby tree. Instead of joy, he immediately felt dread.
Someone yelled.
"Guys, look! It gave off some sap!"
The voice echoed throughout the area surrounded by walls.
Fuck!
Mark ran towards his teammates. He was already panicking. He kept on turning his head, trying to see if some beast is approaching. If they did not leave immediately, they might get cornered.
As he approached the others, he yelled in a hushed tone, "We need to get out of here! This is a den!"
"Den? What do you mean?"
"This is a den! There are wolf cubs at the back, sleeping. We need to get out now!"
The person who was farming the sap got annoyed and said, "Can you guys shut the fuck up? I can't focus here!"
Mark turned towards the person and yelled, "Now's not the time for that! Let's leave, before the parents—"
Mark stopped talking as his eyes moved upwards.
The person who got yelled at cocked an eyebrow at Mark. He had no idea what the latter was saying and he did not finish his sentence. "Parents? What parents?"
Something moved in the shadow of the trees.
Crack!
BOOOOOM!
The Ur Tree that released some of its sap snapped into two and shot towards the nearby wall along with one of their teammates.
Mark's eyes widened as the horror settled in.
….